Business technology can seem difficult to deploy and maintain, especially when you are considering a variety of technologies that can help your organization function more safely and efficiently. While most companies do have the basics, such as desktop computers, phone systems, and data storage, many don’t utilize a few crucial systems that have the ability to prevent large-scale damage to their businesses. Here are 3 key technologies that many businesses typically overlook.

Monitoring and AlertingAlthough monitoring solutions are becoming increasingly more cost-effective and user-friendly, many businesses still believe this is a technology they do not have the resources to deploy. This misconception could be hurting your organization – monitoring for issues in all of your systems is one of the easiest ways to catch security breaches, hardware or software failures, and backup failures in real-time before they have the opportunity to cause damage to your business. Having a monitoring solution allows your IT staff or provider to proactively maintain your systems, preventing downtime and data loss.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) PhonesA large amount of companies still have publicly switched telephone networks. While this model works for some, the benefits of using VoIP phone systems typically outweigh the costs. VoIP systems are scalable – it is much easier to add and remove users with a VoIP system than it is with a traditional phone system. Also, your employees are able to stay better connected when they are out of the office. As your business grows and adds more telecommuting staff, a VoIP phone system will be cheaper and easier to manage.

Backup and Disaster RecoveryAn alarming amount of businesses, small and large, do not have detailed plans for backing up and storing their data safely in the event of an emergency. A large-scale data loss has the power to ruin a business, and this is even truer for smaller organizations. Your business should take frequent backups and store them both on and off-site. You should also have a plan for testing your backup methods and restoring from them in case of a disaster. Businesses overlook this technology and effective recovery plans because it seems unlikely that a disaster is likely to hit. Business owners also are less likely to know if there is an adequate plan in place and if their backups are good.

While these systems are easily forgotten or pushed off as a priority, making plans to implement them can greatly improve your business operations. Better communication, recovery methods, and the ability to identify technical issues at the source are extremely valuable and are less expensive and difficult to setup than they once were. Are you interested in exploring any of these options for your business? If so, get in contact with us. We have specialized products and engineers with experience in helping companies like yours with these priorities.